Contents

Introduction

Despite the Thinkpad name, the SL series laptops actually contain IdeaPad firmware, making it incompatible with the thinkpad_acpi modules. A new module, lenovo-sl-laptop has been written to expose most of the lost functionality. Thinkwiki has a page for the SL series with good general information and howtos.

Wireless

With the Intel WiFi Link 5100 series all functionality is supported out of the box. Follow the wireless setup guide for further information.

Sound

The sound card is supported in the kernel, and following the instructions in the Beginner's guide and also the ALSA guide should be sufficient to get sound working.

lenovo-sl-laptop Kernel Module

This modules is no longer required in 2.6.32 for most hotkey support; the mainline asus-laptop module has been patched to support these models. However, some features still require the lenovo-sl-laptop. Check the git commit for clarification. Note that it's recommened to blacklist the asus-laptop module when the lenovo-sl-laptop module is used to avoid problems with hotkey support.

This experimental kernel module was written to control bluetooth, hotkeys, fan, and screen brightness in place of the incompatible thinkpad_acpi module. A package is currently available in the AUR. After installation, be sure to load the module, and to load on startup, add lenovo-sl-laptop to the MODULES array in rc.conf.

Despite it's experimental status, it works quite well. Sadly, there is no support for the HDAPS.

Configuration

To allow control of the backlight, first edit /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf as follows:

options lenovo-sl-laptop control_backlight=1

Then turn off ACPI control of the backlight by performing the command on startup.

echo 0 > /sys/module/video/parameters/brightness_switch_enabled

A preferable alternative is to add the following to your kernel boot line to do so on startup.

acpi_backlight=vendor

Building Manually

Instead of installing the AUR package, the module can built manually from source.

USB and SD auto mounting

Check out the Udev rules for automounting USB and sd cards, very handy.

Other notes

The SD card reader seems a bit buggy.

Untested

Fingerprint reader,
Bluetooth,
Modem.

Tips and tricks

Power saving

There are a plenty ways to save power and extend battery life. The following entries can be placed in /etc/rc.local and will save power at startup. Be warned that the cpu settings may destroy your processor and I don't warrant that they will work on your machine.